This invention relates to improvements in solar absorber units in which a panel, which is exposed to solar radiation, heats an energy transfer fluid.
Solar absorber units of this general type have been known for many years and there is at least one such unit that is commercially available (manufactured by Beasley Industries Pty, Ltd., Bolton Avenue, Devon Park, South Australia 5008). In the design of absorber panels for such units, however, one is confronted by the generally competing goals of high efficiency on the one hand, and low cost and weight on the other. Thus, for example, the panel's efficiency normally increases with an increase in the number of fluid conduits provided on the panel. The increase in conduits, however, adds to both the weight and cost of the panel; especially when materials must be used that are both excellent thermal conductors and corrosion resistant. Previous attempts to resolve this dichotomy, to the extent it was perceived, have evidently been haphazard.